Flight from the Cutting-Room Floor
by ManofManyHats
Summary: If you've ever gotten a hold of the A:TLA unaired pilot episode, you'd know things. You'd know about how the Avatar State was reworked and how Katara almost wasn't Katara and about a certain prince's pet that never made it off the cutting-room floor.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Guys... I don't even know. This was an old thing I wrote, found, wiped off and posted because the updates I'm working on for my other stories are taking a while. I'd like to think that my writing has improved from this.**

 **Anyway, this story is kind of a way to tell you about something you might not know about: _the Avatar unaired pilot episode_. If you search it up you should find it but... wow. That thing is... interesting. Katara's name was Kya. Sokka's kinda rude. _Where is Iroh!?_ And this: Zuko was meant to have a pet hawk. And I just thought that was adorable. Like so adorable I wrote about it. I found a few more scenes on the file, I'll clean that up and post it but the story isn't finished. Maybe I'll finish it up one day.**

 **I don't have the link for the pilot but you'll find it. I found it and I'm not that good at interneting.**

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"Mom, I think it's still alive!"

Princess Ursa turned towards the sound of the voice and was greeted by the sight of her son, walking towards her briskly with a sense of urgency. Cradling something in his hands.

"I found it by the pond, it's cold, but I think it's still alive," he informed her, more than a little panicked.

"What is it, Zuko," she asked, taking his hands in hers, "show me."

He cautiously took his hands away, leaving in his mother's hands the contents – a little, grey fledgling.

"Is it okay, mom?"

She studied the bird – it was rather damp, but its little claws were scratching and its mouth just opened a second ago.

"It's alive, now calm down," she assured him, "we'll get him warmed up and I'll find someone to take a look at him, alright. Here, take him to your room and keep him in the blankets, okay? I'll be right back."

Zuko held his hands out gingerly. He was afraid to hold it, afraid he might hurt it, but he trusted his mother.

"Okay."

* * *

Ursa didn't know who to ask. The only person she could think of who would know anything about animals was the stable hand. Sadly, his knowledge didn't extend to much more than komodo-rhinos, but he was willing to take a look.

"Well, it's a bit worn out, a little wet," the man analyzed. "Doesn't seem sick. Keep it warm and try to get some food in it. That's all I can recommend."

"What type of bird is it? Is it a turtleduck?" Zuko asked.

"No," the stable hand chuckled," not with these claws, my prince." He studied the bird a little more. "I don't know what it is. But give it a little while, the grey feathers are falling out, when the new ones come out maybe you can tell."

He handed the hatchling, which had gotten much more energetic after nesting in Zuko's blankets, back to Ursa.

"Thank you."

"It was my pleasure, Princess Ursa."

"What do we do with it," Zuko asked after the man had left.

"Well, what do you want? I can find someone to take care of him if you'd like. Or you can watch over it."

He pondered this for a minute. He liked the bird, even if he was still scared of dropping it. He looked back at the chick, which had found its voice again and was using it relentlessly. In the half hour he'd known it he'd grown attached. It was warm and fluffy and alive. He felt afraid of harming it.

But he was even more afraid of losing him.

* * *

A week later and it was clear the bird was not a turtleduck.

In that week, Ursa had found someone with some aviary knowledge – a young servant who had worked in a messenger hawk center at one time.

"Come on Hawky, you have to eat this," Zuko insisted. "Mom said it was good for you."

 _"With that color and beak, it's definitely a hawk," the young man had said, "same breed as the ones used for carrying messages. At that age, give it a bit of minced meat, once it's done molting it can try ripping pieces off itself._

"Zuko, can I see him for a minute?"

 _"Bright eyes and lots of noise mean it's healthy."_

Eyes. Check. Noise. Definitely.

 _"It should have grown markings by now; black tufts around the beak and above the eyes. They'll grow longer eventually."_

Markings. Not check.

"You know, Zuko – I think this fine, young lady deserves a more dignified name than _Hawky_."

He blinked. "It's a girl?" His eyebrows scrunched up, like he wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Umm, I'm sorry I called you a boy, Hawky." The bird chirped contently. Ursa chuckled.

"You know, there isn't much difference between the girls and boys. Only the boys are used as messengers though, because people like how they look," she recalled, "But the females usually grow bigger. And stronger."

"Really?"

"Really. So how about a new name. Hawky is too common." _And I can just tell you'll regret naming her that when you're older._

"I can't think of any."

"We'll figure it out. Now how about getting some food into this little guy."

* * *

"Sora? How about Sora?"

"Umm, I'll think about it."

"Hmm, how about Noriko? I always liked that name…"

"Ow, ow! Stop scratching me!" The hawk squawked as her perch on Zuko's arm shook.

Not everyone had been as open to the prince's pet as his mother had.

Ozai hadn't noticed the bird until recently. He didn't care much though. He saw Zuko as beneath his notice and his pet scored even less.

"If you worked harder on your firebending, I would have given you a well-bred hawk." He had said over the dinner table, usually the only time the two would be in the same room together. "Instead you decide to take in this stray and defile my authority."

Despite his warning, Ozai didn't order the bird away.

Azula had gotten jealous claiming she could raise a much better hawk than her brother. So she asked for one and true to his word, Ozai delivered. The bird vanished within the week. Azula didn't appear too distressed about the bird's disappearance.

Iroh had gotten the news by letter, and answered as like. He and Lu Ten had been delighted to hear about the new addition to the family and sent a bounty of gifts; from a falconry sleeve to a little silver whistle to bird treats.

 _They usually don't train messenger hawks for war,_ Iroh had wrote, _but I know you will raise her well. These are used to train raven eagles, but I think they'll come in handy. Good luck my nephew, and know that the bond between human and animal is not something to underestimate._

His mother continued musing over possible names for the bird.

"Noriko and Noren… those were the names from my favorite play. The one about the dragons, don't you remember? I took you to see it that one time at Ember Island." Zuko tried to pry the hawk's claws off his arm.

"Noriko," he says offhandedly. He didn't remember the play. "…Noriko and No – _Ren!_ " The bird suddenly dug into his skin. His mother chuckles and tells him maybe it's time to put the falconry glove to use.

He still hoped the scratching was just a phase.

* * *

Ren was a perceptive bird.

She saw how Zuko would become distressed when she dig her claws into his arm or when she rips up the lavish couch cushions into piles of red silk and cotton.

Not that she did anything on these observations. Up to this point in time, the mood of the boy meant little to nothing to her. She was a wild animal, attachment to anyone, parents, siblings and strange humans included, was not natural.

However, she was observant. She knew Zuko was happy when she perched lightly on his arm, when she squawked or flapped or picked something up when he told her to. He's happy when she hops, wings flailing fruitlessly trying to catch air. He claps when she climbs higher and is there when she plummets back down.

And as the weeks pass, it became more important to her that the human was happy.

Zuko finds her screeching at his firebending instructors. He always seemed disheartened after practice. When Azula walks up towards them, her feathers ruffle up. It's meant to look threatening but Azula just laughs and says she'd roast the bird soon enough.

She once growled at Ozai. Only once though, because Zuko seemed even more distressed afterwards.

Ren wanted to dig her claws into something today – preferably whoever caused the boy to be weeping beneath his covers right now.

Ren was a perceptive birds. She found it odd that the other human she somewhat tolerated, Ursa, had not come to console him as usual.

So she contented herself by enlarging her collection of scratch marks on the boy's bedpost and when the crying stops, finds herself nested in between the sheets.


	2. Chapter 2

"Uncle, where is she?"

The 13-year old boy's voice was laced with panic, an unwelcome addition to the strain of grief and pain in his throat.

" _Where is she?"_

"Zuko…"

Iroh watched his nephew turn away from his words, out the doorway onto the deck of the metal cruiser. His eye scanned the sky, from the fading edge of the caldera to the endless sea, searching for a rusty red silhouette. With a deep sigh, Iroh joined by his side.

"She was not in the palace, nephew."

"I left her outside yesterday."

"I looked for her."

"You didn't look hard enough."

There was no point in trying to convince him, nor was there any joy in doing so, but his nephew would only waste what little health he had. "She was at an age where the wild was calling to her. She was strong, she was not dependent on us."

"No," he spared a breath to say, "She wouldn't have left."

"It was unwise to leave her outside." No, there was no joy in trying to convince him.

Zuko kept searching, loathing how the bandages snatched away the edges of his vision. He whistled a two noted call, hope upon hope that the wind would carry the sound to her. Then he waited. This time, he knew uncle was wrong.

Iroh settled himself on the railing. Just as he'd dealt with many situations recently, if he could not convince the boy, he might as well stay besides him.

Darkness swells before his heavy eyes when he hears his voice again.

"Let's go inside, Uncle." Iroh blinks away the tiredness from the nap he hadn't realized he had taken and lets his nephew guide him out of the moon's gaze.

"Aah… yes, inside. Let's." Too preoccupied trying to land one foot in front of another, he didn't see the bird perched on his nephew's arm until he woke up the next morning.

* * *

Ren spent the prime of her life at sea, but with the sky open above her and with Zuko by her side, there wasn't much to miss.

She'd grown, her body as long as a man's forearm and her wings longer than his arms outstretched. Her feathers were rust red, less striking than her male counterparts but better suited for blending into the brush. Fast as the falcon-swift and strong as the raven-eagle, the crew would praise her, even when they found her owner less than praiseworthy.

On nights they made port, Zuko as much time as he could off the boat. It was both was a worthwhile opportunity to train and a way to distance himself from the horrible creation that was music night. So tonight, he packed the mask in a bag and walked the torch-lit streets

Tonight, it was stealth. He'd done some sneaking as the Blue Spirit before, and it only seemed right that his partner joined him. Crouched on the rooftops, Zuko brought the silent whistle through the mask's demonic grin. He adjusted the knots behind his head and raised a black clad forearm to the sky.

She came from behind, managing to swoop in and land silently. She ruffled a bit at the mask. It was hard to get used to.

"It's me, Ren," he whispered, "It's just a mask." He soothed the russet feather down.

The air settled, and he hears the wisp of voices from under him. Sliding as silently as he could on the tiles, he drops close enough to catch the words and finds that it's just a pair of old men chatting over a game of Pai Sho. If he wanted to hear that he would've stayed back on the ship with uncle.

He needed information, local gossip at the very least. Ever since his banishment he'd been out of the loop for just about every piece of news. He'd almost been arrested when he'd crossed into newly claimed Fire Nation waters a few weeks back.

Ren eyed something in the pitch night above them. A messenger hawk, the tassels of its cargo swaying limply behind it, making its way to what he guessed was a stronghold.

A stronghold. There would definitely be something worth hearing in there. Would he risk it? He was allowed to stay overnight at colonies but if he were to be found breaking into one of their strongholds, he might as well kiss goodbye any hope of returning home in anything other than chains. As it was however, his chances of returning home at all were practically nonexistent.

He made a gesture towards Ren, twirling his finger in a circle then pointing at himself, a little code that meant _stay close._ She readied her wings before Zuko cast her into the sky, circling higher and higher until her silhouette blended with the darkness.

He was confident he could pull it off, but that was just a result of having Ren watching over his shoulder. He always felt safer, even powerful, and for good reason. He thought back to the Earth Kingdom man who'd tried to stick a knife in his back and left with a handful of claw marks littering his face. There was also the would-be stowaway who found himself face planted on deck with a hawk pining him down.

This, however, was a whole different playing field. _We're just going to hear a little news, maybe find something on the Avatar,_ He tried to reason with himself, _no one gets hurt. It's not treason or anything._ Whoa, where had treason come from. Of course it wasn't treason. He just needed to find the Avatar and he couldn't do it while he was still grasping straws.

Still on shaky moral ground, Zuko made his first leap from rooftop to rooftop. Sliding into the alleyways with adrenaline lining his veins, his mind settled the matter for itself. With the mask over him and Ren looking down on him, he felt nearly unstoppable.

That is, until he's stopped by the looming wall of stone before him. Luckily, the more formidable a wall looks, the easier it is to climb. Before anything else however, he raises a forearm to the sky. She shot down, still ruffling a bit at the mask.

Another gesture, what others would say meant _I'm watching you_ but to them meant _watch out for me._ He launched her back into the air. She perched atop the wall, still in sight, and scanned the walkway. Zuko made his way up. Ren made no signal.

He swung onto the walkway, settling into a crouch. Now where to? Into the courtyard? _Nope,_ he thought as he reeled away from the stone, _too many eyes who could see me._ He heard a little squaw behind him and catches the sight of a door opening at the edge of his vision.

What was he thinking? That he could break and enter a military base? Uncle was right, he never though these things through.

Ren eyed him warily. As the guard turned the corner, he swung himself over the wall again, flattening against the bricks. He only caught the sight of her silhouette shooting into the air. He hung onto the brick, trying to breathe as quietly as possible, praying the guard wouldn't look down.

He does and Zuko wasn't sure who looked more scared. The mask was hard to get used to. The shock gave enough time for Ren to plunge into the man's back, pulling him to the ground in a flurry of feathers.

Zuko hit the ground and took off running, horns roaring behind him. Ren flew close besides him, skilled enough to traverse the urban streets. They were out of range by the time the archers had their arrows nocked.

The next time they made port, Zuko saw his first Blue Spirit wanted poster.

* * *

"Sword." Zuko pointed at said object that lay on his bed and lowered his forearm so Ren could study it better. She looks at it skeptically from the side of her head. She turns to face him and her eyes are wide and pleading with her beak slightly open, which Zuko has learned translates roughly to 'What?'

He rolls his eyes and casts her onto the bed. Ren gives him an indignant caw, but they both know it's only teasing.

Zuko points at the sheathed dao again, making eye contact with the bird. "These are _swords._ " He states, making sure to put emphasis on the word. This was an exercise on vocabulary, after all, and Ren didn't need any random phrases cluttering her mind.

"Sword." The look on Ren's face, a slight squinting of the eyes and closed beak, suggests that she's starting to understand.

Zuko walks to the other side of the room. He makes a gesture which looks like he's taking something in one hand and putting it in the other, which he's trained to mean _give._

"Sword."

Her eyes light up, the scruff of feathers at her neck fluffs happily and she gives a short, high caw, all cues that she's having an 'Aha!' moment. And it is a breakthrough in the teaching of the theory, but not in actuality because Ren doesn't properly grip the handle and ends up being dragged to the ground because of its weight. She makes the rest of the journey by practically hopping to him and towing the swords along.

Then she hops onto his arm and nestles there like she'd done everything perfectly. He strokes her at the base of her neck and she gives what is essentially a bird version of a cat's purr. What a dork.

* * *

"Set sail for the light!" His uncle spew his usual nonsense about patience and tea and it's not surprising to say that Zuko doesn't listen. Why would he when his ticket home is flashing in his face?

It eventually faded however, and what he would give to make this hunk of metal move any faster. The Avatar wasn't going to wait to be captured.

"Ren." He whispered under his breath.

 _She could check, she could show us the way._

He was half-way to the cabin when a rogue wave slapped the side of the ship and frigid droplets of water bore through his clothes. Then he remembered: cold, it's too cold out there for her.

But this might be the break he's always waited for, he could finally get back home. The cold air whisked around as Zuko walked into his chambers. Ren cawed at him and ruffled up her feathers more, trying to trap in warm air against the rush of wind.

"Come on," he sticks his forearm out and she flaps noisily to the perch, "We've found the Avatar."

Zuko thinks she's added 'Avatar' into her vocabulary, due to how much he says it, and claws in disdain before shivering a bit more. She'd be fine flying, wouldn't she? Maybe she could find a warm draft, he's sure a couple of flaps will get the blood pumping again.

"Come on, we have to go find him."

Then she puffs up and snuggles close to him and gives him that pathetic, contented twitter. He thought he'd raised a bird of war, not this pitiful fledgling in hawk's feathers.

Zuko sighs and dumps her on his bed where he helps her make a nest out of the blankets. "And you can stay right here."

* * *

 **AN: This all random drabbles with very minimal plot and I apologize to anyone who though this would be anything more than that. I also don't have much drive to write this, so treat this story as I treat it; a little lift of the mood to play around in every now and again. Again, not my best or recent work, just something I though would be worthwhile to share, something to get your own creative juices flowing. Don't know where this is heading so if any of you have something you'd like to see, tell me or go off and make your own story.** **Until next time, dear readers.**


	3. Chapter 3

Things weren't looking too hot, to be frank. He, Katara and Momo were tied up around a very uncomfortable column in some Fire Nation Temple, Aang was camped behind some vault door doing who knows what, Prince Jerkface was interrogating their only ally in this whole fiasco, and now what's this? Oh, wow, Zhao decided to visit? What luck.

They tied up Zuko as well, who knows why, but it's nice to see the jerk get a taste of his own medicine. Sokka heard a weird _squaw_ somewhere above him during the fuss but ignored it, until, at least, a little brown feather floated down onto his nose. Zuko's bird was perched on a ledge right above him, looking ready to swoop down and slice Zhao into ribbons. His owner gave him a firm shake of the head, and the bird nestled back into the shadows.

He wished he could make Momo that well behaved. He couldn't even housebreak the thing.

Katara whispered besides him. "How is Aang going to get out of this?"

"How are _we_ going to get out of this?"

As it turns out, it didn't take much work, at least not on their part. Aang called in a favor from one of his long dead reincarnations, and the temple burst into flames. Lava split the room apart and sent the columns toppling. He and Katara picked Aang off the ground before he slid into the flames.

"Thanks." The guy looked ready to close his eyes and sleep for a week.

Another column toppled and the entire building started to lean. In the mess of it all, he heard Zuko shout from the other side of the room, and another cry close to him. Following his line of sight, Sokka spotted the bird, pinned down by wreckage and mere feet away from being roasted by the lava that split the temple.

He can practically hear the sigh in his head. _I have to save it, don't I?_

He left Aang to Katara for a second and snatched up the hawk as the building shed off some weight. Zuko had disappeared from the other side of the room. They leapt through the hole in the wall, onto Appa's saddle and flew off into the sky, the bird still screeching in his arms.

* * *

As they flew, the bird eventually switched from angry screaming to sad little coos that would have been cute, if it weren't an enemy bird, calling for its enemy master.

"You really miss that jerkface, don't you?" Sokka poked the little thing's beak. "I didn't think that was possible."

The bird was miffed by that. It tried to bite his finger off then hopped off into Katara's lap. It liked her better.

She scratched it underneath the beak and the thing warbled happily. "Leave the poor thing alone. It's distressed. And injured."

Katara unrolled one of its wings, which brought out a pained squaw. The bird was missing quite a few feathers, which reminded him of a smile with a few teeth knocked out.

"Something's hurt under there. Hopefully it's not a break."

"Just a flesh wound." Sokka waved off. "Nothing some sleep couldn't fix. That thing's our enemy numero uno's right hand bird; can't be trusted. The sooner we throw it off the side and be done with it, the better."

"You're the one who saved her Sokka."

"Oh, it's a _her_ now? It's getting your guard down! Once you start naming the thing, well, _then_ you're in trouble." Sokka turned to Aang, who had recovered enough to sit up on his usual spot at Appa's head. "I learned that when she brought a baby otterpenguin home once."

"It lost its parents!"

"Excuses!"

"Besides, she already has a name." Aang interjected this time, spinning a one-eighty to face them. " _Ren._ I think it means 'lotus'."

The bird instantly lit up at her name.

"I've heard it mean 'love'." Katara added. She booped the bird between the eyes, " _Ren._ That's you. Who's a pretty bird? You are!"

It squawked inquisitively.

Sokka sniveled his nose. "You're telling me the _Prince_ of the _Fire_ Nation named his war hawk, 'love flower'?"

"Well, she is a sweetheart." The bird cooed right on cue and nestled deeper into Katara's lap.

"Wonder where she got it from." He says distastefully. "Don't get too cozy. That thing's the same bird as it was before. Remember when it dropped a sack of potatoes on me when we were on Kyoshi Island. Or, remember when it almost gouged my eyes out back at the village! I still have nightmares over that!"

"Well, you knocked out her owner with your boomerang."

Aang slid down into the saddle with them. "And besides, she didn't _actually_ gouge your eyes out."

"Thanks, that makes it _so_ much better."

"No, I mean Zuko called her off. He didn't _want_ her to hurt you. That tells a lot about him."

At Zuko's name, the bird perked up and jumped out of the nest it'd made in Katara's lap.

"Tells us he won't maul a guy when he's already down. Pretty high morals, for someone from the Fire Nation." Sokka countered.

Aang sighed. "You're impossible."

The bird had stumbled its way to Aang, making a big show of looking pathetic and limping about. It hopped onto his arm and stared at him questioningly with one eye. Aang offered it a berry.

"Animals are great judges of character." He continued, tilting his head from side to side to mimic the bird. "I'm still not convinced that the Zuko's all bad."

Katara looked on at the bird quizzically while Sokka openly scoffed. "So he can train a bird, so what?"

Katara shrugged. "If Ren really does show his soft side… maybe. But he's still on the other side of this war, Aang, no matter what this means."

"I guess so…" Aang didn't looked convinced, then turned back to him. "So why did you even save her?"

Ren stared at him with one of her dark little eyes, as if she wanted to know the answer as well. Sokka scoffed. "Because if that angry jerk knew that I left her, we'd be facing a whole new enemy."

No one argued. Sokka hadn't thought the words would come to him so fast, but he had little doubt on the matter. He'd seen the dynamic those two had, like back at the village when Zuko's eyes had gotten wild after the bird striked through the sky to defend him. He remembered even clearer that moment at the temple, where Zuko had looked so frantic he might have tried to leap over that impossible gap of death that split the room, had the building not stopped him first. They were a team you wouldn't want to be against and definitely something you shouldn't get _between_.

Ren went back to cawing wistfully into the wind. Even as the sky darkened, her beady little eyes still shone.

He decided that if the bird could miss him that much, maybe Zuko was human after all.

* * *

They stopped at a port town where three-masted sailing ships with great white canvases dotted the harbour, and shop awnings of every color covered the streets. It's needless to say that they start popping the shops.

Before anything else though, Aang and Katara dragged him to some animal market that smelled of sweat, wet fur and you know what else.

"We're taking his bird to the vet now!? What are we, his enemies or his lackeys?"

"We're helping an injured animal." Aang answered. "Don't make it political."

Ren ended up with a bit of bandage wrapped around her wing to settle the sprain or fracture or whatever she had. He wasn't really listening.

"Is that better, Ren?" Katara asked the bird who had settled on her shoulder. "A little bit of rest and you'll be good to go. It'll be nice to see you up in the air again."

"And then you'll be ready to fly off and find Zuko again." Aang illustrated up conjuring up a whirlwind and floating her over to his arm. "Or you can go with him when he shows up again. Whichever comes first."

"Hold up." A sudden whim made all the gears in his brain screech to a stop, then chug again in reverse. "Why would we just give her back? I mean, think about it, if Zuko wants the bird back even half as much as Ren wants him back, this could be the perfect blackmail. Imagine what we could get out of this!"

Aang gathered the bird into a flustered bundle in his arms. "What?"

"Where are you going with this?" Katara questioned.

"It's not like we'd ask for gold or anything. We'll give the bird back if he promises to stop chasing us all over the world; I think that's a pretty fair exchange. We just need a way to make sure he keeps the promise…"

Aang was not on the same page. "No, we can't! We can't use Ren as blackmail, I mean, imagine if it were me and Appa. I don't know what I'd do if someone took him away from me."

"That's different, that's-"

"No, it's not!" The bird screeched, like she was seconding the thought. "Ren's our friend now, and I'd personally fly her back to Zuko if that's what she wanted. Isn't that right, little buddy?"

Sokka was about to argue, but then the bird climbed onto his head, which took a lot of steam from his gears. He huffed. "Giving up an upper hand because of morals. I hope this isn't a pattern."

They kept roaming the streets after that, picking up whatever curios caught their fancy and thoroughly cutting down their coinage. Ren eyed the markets warily and hopped between their shoulders eagerly, like she was enjoying having such generous perch space for once. She especially liked Sokka's head. Maybe the ponytail reminded her of Zuko.

Either way, she did pretty well in scaring off the seedier merchants, and she certainly interested the ladies. And then came the pirates, of course. Having a bird on his shoulder was some great common ground, and then later, after Katara had stolen that scroll, Ren did a good job of making everyone deaf with screeching. She even managed to scratch any pirate extremities that got too close to them and clawed their iguana-parrot out of the sky. Maybe he could get used to this whole 'pet' thing.

Things settled down after that. They set up a camp out in the forest, well, at least _he_ did. Aang and Katara left right away to practice splash magic which left him alone with the animals. Appa snoozed a ways off, Momo was probably chasing bugs somewhere and Ren was perched on a branch above him.

She seemed agitated, scanning the woods and screeching out at nothing like she was looking for someone. Then, she threw herself.

Okay, she didn't actually, the bird had tried to fly off her branch but ended up plummeting to the ground right in front of him, a few feet away from the fire.

"What are you up to now?" The bird shook itself off then started picking its way back up the tree, using Sokka as a ladder. "Hey!"

Then she tried again.

"Alright, enough! You're insane!" Sokka picked her up before she could make her way up again and planted her by the fire. He dug out some seal jerky that he'd been saving and offered it to her. "Here, nibble on that."

It kept her occupied for a moment. They sat together in the growing twilight, munching on the jerky and staring off into the distance. "Remember this, okay? Next time we face off, don't go for the face. I need that."

He plucked a clump of dirt out of her feathers. When she'd finished, Ren climbed up onto his knee and stared at him vacantly. Then she turned back to forest as if he didn't exist and started up her old, sad cooing. He didn't find it quite that annoying this time.

"You really do miss the guy." She didn't pay him any attention, so he patted down some stray feathers in an effort to comfort her. "Don't worry about it, you'll see him soon. He'll find _us_."

* * *

He was half expecting it when he woke up. "I don't believe it."

Aang yawned besides him. "What's wrong?"

Up in her tree Ren cawed.

"She took the scroll! She's obsessed with that thing. It's just a matter of time before-"

Then she screeched. That's when the pirates showed up. Two nets were cast and he and Aang were being carried away before he'd even had a chance to blink the dark spots out of his eyes.

Gliding down from her branch like a copper arrow, despite the gauze still wrapped around her wing, Ren dove into one of the pirates and started clawing in a frenzy. He stumbled and dropped Sokka to the not at all comfortable ground.

"Gah!" The pirate swatted her, still howling, away from his ear. "There are some crazy birds out here!"

As much bravado as she had, Ren was still a just an injured messenger hawk. She stumbled in the undergrowth, stunned and bruised.

His net was picked back up and as they left, Sokka got an unhindered view of Ren trying vainly to limp her way towards them.

"Thanks for trying, buddy."

* * *

On Katara's side, things kicked off right away. "Tell me where they are!"

Zuko slammed a hand on the tree she was tied on. He looked a lot more twitchy today, more deranged and with bleary eyes colored dark underneath with bags.

" _Where is my hawk_?"

"Safe," As much as she hated the guy, Katara could tell he'd been losing sleep over the issue, "Let me go and you'll have her back."

Zuko faltered for a second, as if he were considering taking the offer, then growled and kept pacing.

That's when the pirates started getting rowdy. They shut up pretty quick when Zuko lit a fire underneath the waterbending scroll. "Find the boy and meet back here, or else this thing goes up in flames!"

Any finesse he used to have seemed to have vanished. As if to prove the statement even more, Zuko thrust something in front of her face, a dark blue ribbon with a jewel dangling in the middle.

"Tell me where she is and this'll be yours again."

She drew a breath. "My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"

"Tell me where they are!"

"No!" There was no question; a necklace to betray her friends? "Go jump in the river!"

He made a few sounds of distress, as if he were being strangled and was deeply annoyed by it.

Katara tried for some more diplomacy, using the tone she adopted when trying to calm wild animals. "We'll give her back, Zuko, just call off the pirates and let me go."

He kept pacing. "I'm not here to bargain with you, so stop trying."

She'll take that as, _I'll consider it._

Zuko makes it to the other side of the tree, facing the forest, and starts whistling a short, two-note tune. It's not exactly melodic.

"Ren is much better company than you, by the way."

Zuko growled. "I know that already."

* * *

The last few days had been _horrible._ Back at the temple, Zuko had been ready to tear through that rubble brick by brick, but Zhao gave him no choice but to run. He didn't like it, but Zuko bargained that he had a much better chance of finding Ren if he was a free man, and no chance at all if he were a dead man. After that it was day and night spent pacing the deck with his spyglass and yelling at the crew to _hurry up_ before he spontaneously combusted from anxiety.

The last few minutes however, might have been worse. When the pirates came back with no bird in sight, Zuko found that even the scene of the Avatar, his one ticket home, bound before him was not enough to melt even a little bit of that block of hate and worry and anguish he carried around. It gave him a headache. Then it didn't matter, because the Avatar was free, the scroll was lost, his skiff had been sailed off a waterfall and Ren was still gone.

Zuko roared. "How did we manage to come out of this whole thing with one boat less? No Ren, no Avatar, absolutely nothing!"

Uncle chuckled behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "On the bright side, Prince Zuko, I've found my lotus tile! It was in my sleeve the whole time!"

Before he took the Water Tribe girl's advice and jumped in the river, he heard a loud, happy and very familiar squaw behind him. And there she was, ragged and dirty with gauze wrapped around her left wing, stumbling out of the forest, her eyes shining mirthfully.

"Ren! Where have you been?" He carried her into his arms and scanned her for anymore injuries, which was difficult with Ren scratching around and trying to nibble his ear.

He felt like a hundred weights had dropped off his shoulders, which made the rest of him feel weightless and lightheaded. He didn't notice the shadow fall across them until Ren turned an eye up to the sky.

Above them, the sky bison flew, with the Avatar hanging off the edge of the saddle, smiling and throwing down fruits and nuts off the side. "Bye, little buddy!"

Ren called back, Uncle waved and a blueberry hit Zuko's good eye. Despite himself, Zuko wasn't too peeved by it.

* * *

 _AN: Ren gets a lot of petting. Zuko has no strength of will and can get nothing done if she's in the room. Iroh is prone to letting her snuggle in his lap and having long conversations with her. The ship's' crew, who are pretty sure Zuko couldn't show affection to save his life, pet her in surplus when he's not looking to compensate. Ren is okay with this. I am very okay with this. I wanted you guys to know that._

 _Anyway, the stars must have aligned to get me to write this, so hope you enjoyed!_


	4. Chapter 4

Ever since the debacle with the Avatar, Ren was absolutely useless. At least, whenever it came to a face off. At best, she was a distraction. She was more likely to ask for treats than lend any sort of help, though, hopping from head to head and cooing like a lovesick turtledove. What they'd done to turn his hawk to their side, he'll never know, but he blamed a mix of Avatar magic and Stockholm syndrome.

Don't get him wrong though, Ren still trusted his judgement. Zuko has no doubt that he could order her to slice their throats and she'd do it, but she wouldn't like it, and he would never want to make her do something that would distress her.

It was like bringing uncle to a fight. They were there for moral support, but if the bottom ever drops out they were sure to have his back. He hoped.

It does nothing to calm his temper, though. Finding Ren had only been a moment of calm in a stormy sea. Metaphorically speaking, chasing the Avatar continued to be a maelstrom in his mind and now with Zhao nipping at his heels, he knows he has a time limit. And quite literally, stormclouds brew in the distance. Straight northward stands gray, and northward is the direction the Avatar is bound.

Zuko sighs. Things never came easy.

From his shoulder, Ren vaulted into the air. She shot high, the gale winds blowing against her making it look like she were locked still in the air. She screeched at the storm as if she were calling for a fight. Now a little bird against a stormfront was a ridiculous match, but Zuko couldn't help but smile. He stood a little straighter, faced forward a bit prouder, for if Ren was willing to keep fighting, so would he.

* * *

When they make port at Pohuai Stronghold, a looming military base at the shore of the Earth Kingdom, Zuko's in high enough spirits. After steaming all through the night, he's assured that they've caught up with the Avatar. The ruins not too far seem like an obvious place to search.

And then Zhao was promoted to admiral.

He'd like to say that he took the news well, but that would be a dastardly lie. Ren, who isn't necessarily dumb, is in fact a bird, and so can't really comprehend emotion too accurately; even she seems to notice his desperation. She takes to clawing out his bedpost. Zuko takes to staring at a candle on his desk.

It seems so hopeless, it's almost laughable. Zhao's out there with an entire navy at his command, as well as the stronghold itself, and the Avatar is likely only a stone throw away. He wouldn't be surprised if he were already caught.

He breathes a deep sigh, and the candle snuffs out. The futility of the situation brings inaction. He hasn't given the crew an order in hours, and the likelihood of him making one in the foreseeable future is dim. What was the point? He'd never get home.

He hears a beating of wings and a ruffled squaw, Ren is agitated, followed by a crash. He whips his head around to find his dao swords and his bird in a heap on the ground. Whether the slip was accidental or on purpose, Zuko doesn't know, but he picks the flailing, feathered mess off the ground anyway.

"Really?" He scolds. "I don't need you acting out today!"

He'd barely opened the door before she springs out his arms and into the hall with a belligerent squawk. Zuko huffs. Biting the hand that feeds her; maybe he'd spoiled her too much.

He slips back into the room and picks the swords from the floor. The dual blades slide into his palms, and despite all the turmoil, he feels a little comforted. The weapons always gave him that illusion of power, as if he had the might to do whatever he'd set himself to do. But the sentiment doesn't help for long. He hangs the blades back up on the wall. Two swords against an admiral and his army; it was as hopeless as… a little bird against a stormfront.

The blades don't stay hung too long. He reasons that he has nothing left to lose, and call him crazy, call him nearsighted, but Zuko throws himself into the tempest. If his little bird could do it, so could he.

Zuko snags the mask from his bedpost and follows Ren out the door.

* * *

Things weren't… great. They were 'okay' at best, better than being pinned down in a swamp by those archers and much better than being held prisoner by Admiral Lambchops; but not that much better. The guy in the blue mask wasn't exactly a soothing presence, but hey, Aang couldn't complain. He just wishes the frogs hadn't jumped out.

"Are you here to rescue me?" He asks, rubbing his hands where the ropes had been cutting. The guy nods and holds the cell door open. Polite. " I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Alarms start roaring. The thundering drum of an army's worth of boots rings in his ears. He follows the blue masked man through narrow halls until they make it to the courtyard, with an open gate just a sprint away. And they almost made it too. Time to improvise.

Through a feat of airbending, acrobatics and ladder stacking, they make it on top of the first wall. Aang was almost as giddy as he was terrified. The scale tips back to terrified though, when soldiers start spilling from either side of the walkway.

They stand back to back as the bristling spears start closing, readying for the first blow. Suddenly, from the side of the wall a guard, who had apparently managed to find a usable remain of ladder, springs over the rampart. His arm winds back in an all too familiar firebending stance. That might've been the last thing he'd ever see, but a shadowy mass shoots down from the sky, knocks the guard to the ground, and disappears into night. Then, the initial throng of soldiers reach them.

They make it past the first wall, slip through the second wall and all the way to the third gate - the third closed gate.

So yeah, things weren't great.

They're surrounded, and his rescuer decides the best thing to do is to hold two blades at Aang's throat. As they back out through the gates Zhao had begrudgingly opened, he can't say he's not scared. Just as Zhao had no idea what the masked man's intentions were, neither did Aang. The metal seemed to press deeper and deeper into his throat. When the arrow hit, he's surprised the force hadn't lopped his head off.

Aang whips up a dust cloud immediately. The masked man is unconscious and he starts dragging him towards the forest without a second thought. Until, he catches sight of something beneath the mask; the edges of a scar.

His arms go numb. Aang runs off alone towards the forest, disbelief seizing his lungs, until a screech rips from behind him. He stops dead in his track. It wasn't the screech of metal gates being wrenched open, or the screech of a hundred steel plates scraping together; it was higher and clearer and laced with an almost human-like grief. Ren claws at her master's chest, screaming. Her eyes latch onto Aang with a plea. He needs only take a glance at Zuko, unconscious, with his tunic ragged from Ren's talons, before he returns a nod. Aang whips another dust cloud for cover and the hawk shoots off toward the stronghold.

* * *

In the morning, Aang hangs up on a tree branch as Zuko lays out cold on the ground. He'd wake up anytime now and… and then what? Why was he staying around? Zuko was the enemy; he'd rescued him just so he could capture him himself. There was no befriending him. His friends still needed help.

Ren sails in from the overgrowth and perches on his knee. She give him a little hello squawk before swooping down and hunching over Zuko like a mother turtleduck. Aang can't help but smile.

That hawk loves her owner. It reminds him of Appa. The bond between human and animal was something that no seems to understand. It's a bond between two beings that completely trust and rely on one another, a bond that was just as strong and stronger than any human friendship. It was a partnership so in sync that they're one and the same. He wonders if Zuko understands that.

Aang whistles Ren to his knee and feeds her a spare berry. "There has to be some good in him, right? You wouldn't follow someone evil, would you?"

The hawk puffs up her feathers against the cold morning air. Aang spares another glance at her master. "If we can be friends, then so can me and Zuko, right?"

Aang decides it's worth a try. However it goes, at least he has Ren on his side; and if he's right, then that's already half of Zuko.

* * *

Having Zhao on his ship was not good for his head. He was still nursing a migraine from last night. That's not even going into the mixed bag of emotion from that morning.

The admiral struts in with Iroh and an armor plated guard, who's hands are full with something covered by a cloth, ambling in behind him. When Ren first catches sight of the man, she hunches over on his shoulder and starts growling. Zuko would do the same if he could, so he does the next best thing.

He fires off without a second thought. "We were just about to set off. Why are you here? I thought you'd still be licking your wounds from last night's attack."

"An attack?" Iroh head pops up from the background.

Zhao shrivels his nose in distaste, but something in his eyes said that there was nothing benign about his visit. "Yes. We had a breach of the stronghold last night. It's funny how word gets around so fast."

"Well, my condolences, Zhao. Hopefully that can be put behind you."

"Hmm, yes." Zhao turns fully towards him, studying him with a smug look on his face. When his eyes linger on Ren for too long, she lets loose a screech.

"Enough! Why are you on my ship?" Zuko shouts.

"Well first off, I have barred this port from all ships so you're not meant to be here in the first place. But I'll turn a blind eye to that. I actually came to see what you made of last nights, ah, incident."

Alarm bells wailed in Zuko's head. "What's there for me to say."

Zhao doesn't seem to hear. He begins striding across the room, examining the walls and running his hands over furniture as if he were looking to buy the place.

"Hmm. Well, whoever it is that broke into the Avatar's cell last night is an enemy of the Fire Nation, I can tell you that for sure. I have a feeling that justice will catch up with him soon enough." The admiral's eyes fall on the pair of swords on the wall and he freezes. Zuko tenses. "You're a swordsman, Prince Zuko?"

His tone is innocent enough but it does nothing to mask his intentions.

Zuko turns his head. "No. They're antiques. Just decorative."

"Oh." Satisfied, but not convinced, with the answer, Zhao beckons the guard behind him forward. "Well, before we leave I thought you might like to see an unusual product from yesterday night."

The soldier throws off the cloth to reveal a guard's helmet and tunic. The tunic sleeve is shredded, not ripped like a sword strike, and flecked with blood. Zhao holds out the helmet for him to have a better look, but he sees it clear enough; long silver scratches on the red painted metal, dented, almost punctured.

Zhao studies the helmet thoughtfully. "Like talons. What do you make of it?"

Zhao's gaze is just off, and on his shoulder, Ren growls. Her claws seem to dig deeper into his skin. Zuko stays quiet at the envoy leaves his ship.

* * *

 _AN: I think this story has become my writer's block go to. Especially after I get off a long hiatus, this story is so easy to jump back into. It helps segue into my more elaborate stories. Which, by the way, are getting written. A Candle to the Dragon, Rise and Fight etc. Also, sorry for being gone for so long. But hey, if I ever disappear from all my other stories for a few months, that probably good news for an update to this one. Adieu friend, till next time._


End file.
